Mary Carol Akers is a
graduate of Texas Woman’s University, the University of Kentucky, and the
Catholic University of America. She has served throughout her career advocating
for women and their rights in a male-centered culture. Dr. Akers serves as the
secretary/treasurer of the ACNM Kentucky Affiliate and is a peer reviewer for
the Journal of Midwifery & Women’s
Health. She has served as the consultant to the Army Surgeon General for
nurse-midwifery and on the Division of Accreditation of ACNM. Dr. Akers has
mentored students for more than 30 years while serving as a service director, a
program director, and now a clinical director of a home birth and birth center
practice. Her research has centered on psychological aspects of pregnancy and
the postpartum period with emphasis on maternal adaptation.

Sharon M. Bond, CNM, PhD, FACNM (Mt. Pleasant, SC)

Sharon Bond is a graduate and
faculty member of the Medical University of South Carolina. She taught
nurse-midwifery there until the program closed in 2009 after 37 years. Dr. Bond
currently teaches Doctor of Nursing Program (DNP) students in classroom and
clinical settings. Her clinical and research interests are concerned with
prevention of cervical cancer among underserved women. Between 1995 and 2001,
she managed the care of more than 600 unfunded women with abnormal Pap tests.
In 2006, she received federal funding from the National Cancer Institute to
examine knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs about cervical cancer, human
papillomavirus infection, and HPV vaccines among different race/ethnic groups. Dr.
Bond has authored/co-authored “Updates from the Literature” in the Journal of Midwifery & Women’s Health
since 2007.

Ilene Gelbaum, CNM, FACNM (Torrance, CA)

Ilene Gelbaum entered New
York's Mount Sinai Hospital School of Nursing at age 16 and, in 2012, proudly
received their Distinguished Alumna Award for her 46-year contribution to the
health care profession. She was the first CNM in the country to receive
certification as a Mohel from Hebrew Union College, paving the way for other
Jewish midwives. She has been published in the Journal of Midwifery &
Women’s Health, worked on the editorial board of a publication for advanced
practice providers, and is an invited speaker and midwifery advocate. On
November 6, 2008, Gelbaum delivered her 5000th baby at Kaiser
Permanente in Anaheim, CA.

Cynthia B. Flynn, CNM, PhD, FACNM (Bryn Mawr, PA)

Cynthia Flynn,
past president of the American Association of Birth Centers,has served as
executive director of The Birth Center in Bryn Mawr, PA, the general director
of the Family Health and Birth Center (FHBC) in Washington DC, associate
professor of nursing at Seattle University, and owner of Columbia Women’s
Clinic and Birth Center in Kennewick, WA. She serves as the expert midwife on www.pregnancy.org, where she has led monthly chats and
answered more than 3000 searchable questions submitted by consumers. Dr. Flynn
demonstrated that within 4 years and without borrowing, a new graduate could
establish a successful independent midwifery practice and licensed, accredited
birth centerwhile repaying her student loans.

Mamie Guidera, CNM, MSN, FACNM(Merion Station,
PA)

Mamie
Guidera graduated from the Frontier Nursing Service community-based
nurse-midwifery
education program and
has worked in home birth, birth center, and high-tech hospital settings. She
started and ran a midwifery practice in Norristown, PA, largely for
undocumented women. Guidera is the chair of the ACNM Professional Liability Section
and, alongside colleague Bill McCool, has studied midwives’ responses to
adverse outcomes in midwifery care and created the first Midwives and Liability
Studies in 2004 and 2009 – both in an attempt to normalize the experiences of
loss and litigation. She is a committed preceptor, educator, and mentor for
midwifery students at the University of Pennsylvania. She has taught midwives
in Guatemala, Honduras, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, and Egypt.

Linda Hunter, CNM, EdD, FACNM(Pawtucket, RI)

Linda Hunter is currently a
member of the academic midwifery service at Women & Infants Hospital. She
is also a clinical assistant professor at the Alpert Medical School of Brown
University and has received numerous clinical teaching awards from medical
students and OBGYN residents. She previously served as the ACNM chapter chair
in Vermont and is the current president of the ACNM Rhode Island Affiliate. Dr.
Hunter is also the chair of the Certificate Maintenance Committee of the
American Midwifery Certification Board and a contributing editor for the
clinical rounds section of the Journal of
Midwifery & Women’s Health.

Deborah Brandt Karsnitz, CNM, DNP, FACNM(Simpsonville,
KY)

Deborah Brandt Karsnitz is an
advisor for midwifery students, mentor to students and faculty members, and
doctoral chair for DNP students at Frontier Nursing University (FNU) and other
universities. Dr. Karsnitz writes for various publications and delivers podium
presentations on postpartum complications, perinatal mood and anxiety disorders,
as well as leadership competencies. Dr. Karsnitz has been a member of ACNM
throughout her midwifery career and currently serves on the Exam Committee of
the American Midwifery Certification Board, the Quality Committee of the ACNM
Division of Standards and Practice, and the Dissemination Section of the ACNM
Division of Research. In addition, she serves as a peer reviewer for the Journal of Midwifery & Women's Health.
Dr. Karsnitz currently serves as the president of the ACNM Kentucky Affiliate,
in addition to serving as president for Postpartum Support Kentuckiana – a
group that provides resources and education on perinatal mood and anxiety
disorders for women and families, as well as providers in Kentucky and Southern
Indiana.

Carrie S. Klima, CNM, PhD, FACNM(Chicago, IL)

Carrie Klima is a founding
board member of the Centering Healthcare Institute and has been involved with
group prenatal care practice and research since 1999. Dr. Klima is a faculty
consultant for the Centering Healthcare Institute and provides education and
consultation as sites implement and sustain the Centering model of care. She
has served ACNM as a chapter chair, chapter vice chair, member of the Political
and Economic Affairs Committee, and site visitor for the Division of
Accreditation. She is currently the dissemination chair of the ACNM Division of
Research. Dr. Klima has been a member of an international health care
experience in Belize and has provided service and student experiences there for
the last 21 years.

Lonnie C. Morris, CNM, ND, FACNM(Tenafly, NJ)

An outspoken advocate for midwifery, Lonnie has appeared on
television, radio, and in films. Morris has been instrumental in expanding the
scope of practice and addressing reimbursement challenges at the state and
federal level. She won the right for midwives to incorporate, and was awarded a
grant from the state which proved birth centers were safe and cost effective.
She facilitated malpractice coverage for midwives in New Jersey during the
national malpractice crisis. As a legislative activist she helped develop New
Jersey’s regulations for midwives and for birth centers. As New Jersey chapter
chair, and later affiliate chair, she helped facilitate state recognition of
midwives as independent practitioners. She has also served on the A.C.N.M.
Foundation board and various committees.

Linda Nanni, CNM, MS, FACNM (Providence, RI)

Linda Nanni is a graduate of
Georgetown University midwifery program. She has worked as a midwife providing
full-scope care in all settings. She is the chair of the Rhode Island Board of
Midwifery and has served as an advisor to the Rhode Island Director of Health
on maternal child health issues such as the maternity care shortage, barriers
to the practice of midwives, establishment of a state-run Medicaid system for
all pregnant women and families with young children, the establishment of a
state-wide women’s cancer screening program, and execution of the prescription
privileging process for midwives. Her most significant contributions to the
profession include directing large collaborative practices for 30 years,
precepting and mentoring scores of midwives, and being a long-standing
volunteer leader for ACNM.

Julia C. Phillippi, CNM, PhD, FACNM (Brentwood, TN)

Dr. Julia Phillippi is
currently an assistant professor at the Vanderbilt School of Nursing, teaching Masters
of Science in Nursing (MSN) and DNP students, and providing intrapartum care in
the faculty practice. Dr. Phillippi has midwifery experience in all birth
settings and has mentored more than 100 midwifery students in her 8 years of
teaching. She was the chair of the Basic Competency Section of the ACNM Division
of Education from 2007 to 2013, and has many publications in the areas of
technology, education, and access to prenatal care. She is the primary author
of 15 scholarly works including original research, textbook chapters, and
review articles.

Catherine Moore Salam, CNM, MS, FACNM (Annapolis, MD)

Catherine Moore Salam is an
adjunct assistant professor of nurse-midwifery at Shenandoah University and
practices full scope nurse-midwifery at Maryland General Hospital in Baltimore,
though the obstetrics unit at the hospital will closing June 30, displacing 10
to 15 doctors and midwives. Previously, she was a clinical instructor and
interim program director at the University of Maryland School of Nursing in
Baltimore. She has been dedicated to teaching and
mentoring throughout her career. As a National Health Service Corps clinician,
she began two services for inner city women and has developed and
implemented health care training curricula for rural settings in the US and
internationally.

Maria S. Valentin-Welch, CNM, MPH, FACNM (Pittsboro,
NC)

Maria
Valentin-Welch received her Bachelor of Science in Nursing from University of
Massachusetts Boston and her Masters in Public Health and Midwifery Education
from Boston University School of Public Health. In her current position as North
Carolina's State Maternal Health Consultant, she spearheaded the state’s first
policy addressing lead in pregnancy, utilizing CDC guidelines. Valentin-Welch
has made distinctive contributions to excellence in clinical care for homeless
women and families, including the education of health professionals about model
programs to address the complex needs of this population using a public health
midwifery approach. She has demonstrated her visionary leadership as chairperson
of the ACNM Midwives of Color Committee (MOCC) leading a successful restructure
of the committee and founding the “Friend of MOCC and Ethnic Diversity Caucus.”

Angela Wilson-Liverman, MSN, CNM,
FACNM (Nashville, TN)

Angela Wilson-Liverman received her Bachelor of Science from the
University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill and her Master of Science in Nursing
from Vanderbilt University. She is currently a doctoral student at Nova
Southeastern University. Wilson-Liverman trained and worked at the Women’s
Center of Martin County, Florida, a freestanding birth center. She then worked
at Physicians to Women in Stuart, Florida, where she managed the conversion to
an electronic medical record and became nationally known as an EMR speaker and
consultant. Currently, she is the division director of Midwifery and Advanced
Practice Nursing and an assistant professor in the Department of Obstetrics and
Gynecology at Vanderbilt University where, during her first 2 years as
director, she grew the division from 14 to 23 CNMs and WHNPs in 4 outpatient
clinics, labor and delivery, and in the Maternal Special Care Unit (triage) at
Vanderbilt. Wilson-Liverman published a sentinel article in JMWH on
documentation and billing when midwives teach residents and medical students,
and developed a prenatal care clinic for women with known fetal anomalies at
Vanderbilt. She is a frequent national speaker on a variety of topics.
Wilson-Liverman founded and was first chair of the Treasure Coast Chapter (FL)
of ACNM, served as the Student Committee chair from 2004 to 2010, facilitated
the Exam Prep workshop for 5 years, presented education sessions at multiple
annual meetings, and is the current chair of the Medical Education Caucus as
well as the co-chair of the annual meeting Local Program Committee.

Susan Marie Yount, CNM, PhD, WHNP-BC, FACNM (Tucson,
AZ)

Susie Marie Yount practiced
in the first Refugee clinic in Phoenix, AZ. As director of a rural health
program in Texas, she established 5 clinic sites. She continues to practice
part-time at the Birth Center in Tucson, AZ. Dr. Yount has served as faculty
for various universities and has been faculty at FNU since 2008 focusing on
women’s health and antepartum courses. As an author, she has published in the Journal of Midwifery & Women’s Health and
the Journal of Obstetric, Gynecologic,
& Neonatal Nursing (JOGNN). Dr. Yount is the primary author of 2
chapters in Best Practices in Midwifery:
Using the Evidence to Implement Change, published in 2013. She currently
serves on the Online Continuing Education Committee, as a developer for the
ACNM Live Learning Center and the Student Exam Preparation course, and on the
Continuing Education Evaluation Reader Panel for the ACNM Division of Education.
Dr. Yount serves as a board member for the ACNM Arizona Affiliate.

The American College of Nurse-Midwives (ACNM) is the
professional association that represents certified nurse-midwives (CNMs) and
certified midwives (CMs) in the United States. With roots dating to 1929, ACNM
sets the standard for excellence in midwifery education and practice in the
United States and strengthens the capacity of midwives in developing countries.
Our members are primary care providers for women throughout the lifespan, with
a special emphasis on pregnancy, childbirth, and gynecologic and reproductive
health. ACNM reviews research, administers and promotes continuing education
programs, and works with organizations, state and federal agencies, and members
of Congress to advance the well-being of women and infants through the practice
of midwifery. More information about ACNM
can be found at www.midwife.org